Question 1

Do I still need NetBox or Nautobot?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and that is the point. Railyard is the design step before your source of truth, not a replacement for it. Model racks, topologies, cabling and power while the build is still being decided, then export a bulk-import bundle your DCIM can load. Railyard does not discover, monitor or operate a live estate.

Question 2

How can I sign in, and is enterprise SSO available?

Accepted Answer

Sign in with a one-time 6-digit email code, Google, or GitHub. Owner, editor, and viewer roles are available. SAML/OIDC federation to your own identity provider (such as Okta or Entra ID) is planned for Enterprise; it is not available on the hosted service yet.

Question 3

Can I create network topologies?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Create named topologies with your own layers, place devices from your rack inventory, and connect their real ports. A device can appear in more than one topology without duplicating the inventory item.

Question 4

What is version control, and who can use it?

Accepted Answer

Every plan keeps version history, so you can look back at earlier versions and restore one. Team and above add branches and merge requests for organisation projects: contributors try a change on a branch without touching main, and an approver reviews and merges it.

Question 5

What is a deliverable?

Accepted Answer

Deliverables are the files you hand to someone else: the build pack PDF, cable schedule, cable and rack labels, power schedule, power report, NetBox bulk-import bundle and Nautobot bulk-import bundle. Nautobot Design Builder YAML counts as part of the Nautobot bundle. They come with a Project Pass for one estate, or with a Pro, Team or Partner plan for every estate. Community can preview the build pack for one rack, watermarked. The raw project file (Railyard JSON) is not a deliverable: downloading, importing and exporting it is free on every plan.

Question 6

Can I export my designs to my DCIM?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Plan and validate the physical layer in Railyard, then produce structured bulk-import bundles for Nautobot or NetBox — real data, not screenshots — ready for your operational source of truth. The bundles are deliverables, so they need a Project Pass or a paid plan.

Question 7

Is the Community plan really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Community is free forever and needs no credit card. It includes 1 editor, unlimited estates and devices, up to 25 racks per estate, the full rack, topology, cabling and power design tools, version history and the raw project file. You pay only when you need the deliverables.

Question 8

What is a Project Pass?

Accepted Answer

A one-off payment of £149 that unlocks every deliverable for one estate in your personal space for 6 months, and raises that estate's limit to 100 racks. Nothing renews. When the pass ends the estate stays fully editable and its project file stays free to download; only its deliverables stop.

Question 9

How do rack limits work?

Accepted Answer

Rack limits are per estate: 25 on Community, 100 with a Project Pass, 100 on Pro, 500 on Team and 1,000 on Partner. Estates and devices are unlimited on every plan. A limit only stops an estate growing past it: nothing is ever deleted or hidden, and an estate already over its limit stays editable and can shrink. To export an estate's deliverables, its rack count must be within the limit.

Question 10

What happens when a paid plan or pass ends?

Accepted Answer

Your designs stay exactly where they are and stay editable. Nothing is deleted, hidden or made read-only. You keep full design access and the raw project file; only deliverables, and creating new branches and merge requests, stop until you renew, upgrade or buy a Project Pass. Community's rack limit then applies to growth.

Question 11

How does Team pricing work?

Accepted Answer

Team is £199 a month or £1,990 a year, including 5 editors and unlimited viewers and reviewers. Each additional editor is £35 a month or £350 a year. Only people who can edit count towards billing. Partner is a partner programme for consultancies and integrators delivering for clients, with 10 editors; talk to us to set it up.

Question 12

Can I run Railyard on my own servers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Self-hosted starts from £3,900 a year for up to 5 editors and 500 racks per estate, larger by quote, agreed with our sales team rather than bought online. A self-hosted server runs without billing, so every feature and deliverable is unlocked and there are no plan limits.

Question 13

How is my data kept secure?

Accepted Answer

Passwordless authentication with hashed credentials, role-based access control, and tenant isolation between organisations — with no third-party trackers. See our Security page for the full detail.

Question 14

What can Railyard model?

Accepted Answer

Your whole estate — custom spaces such as sites, rooms and cages, racks at any level, and the devices inside them — with named network topologies, structured cabling and circuit tracing, power and thermal budgets, and a built-in library of 7,000+ real hardware models.

`⌘K`	Open the command palette
`⌘Z`	Undo
`⌘⇧Z`	Redo
`?`	Show the shortcuts sheet
`Esc`	Close a panel, or step back out of a selection

`J`	Select the previous device
`K`	Select the next device
`⇧Click`	Select a range of devices in a rack
`⌘Click`	Add a device to the selection, or take it out
`↑`	Move the selected device up 1U (several selected move together)
`↓`	Move the selected device down 1U (several selected move together)
`⌥↑`	Jump the selected device up to the next free space
`⌥↓`	Jump the selected device down to the next free space
`[`	Shrink the selected device by 1U
`]`	Grow the selected device by 1U
`⌘C`	Copy the selected device
`⌘V`	Paste the copied device into the selected rack
`⌘D`	Duplicate the selected device
`⌫`	Delete the selected devices or cable

`1`	Switch to Physical
`2`	Switch to Power
`3`	Switch to Cabling
`4`	Switch to Topology
`5`	Switch to Store room

`Arrows`	Move the selected devices (hold Shift for a bigger step)
`⌥Arrows`	Focus the nearest device in that direction
`⌘A`	Select every visible device
`C`	List the focused device's connections
`⇧C`	Connect a cable from the focused device
`F`	Fit the topology to the view (0 also works)
`F6`	Jump to the canvas tools
`⇧F6`	Jump to the inspector
`⌫`	Remove the selection from the topology
`Esc`	Cancel a drag or connection, then clear the selection

`Drag`	Pan the board
`Wheel`	Zoom in / out (pinch on trackpad)
`+`	Zoom in
`−`	Zoom out
`F`	Fit everything to the view

Keyboard shortcuts

General

Rack elevation

Rack views

Topology

Board — pan & zoom

Cable table

Command palette

Guides (Help menu)

`↑`	Move to the previous cable
`↓`	Move to the next cable
`Enter`	Reveal the cable on the board
`Esc`	Close the table

`↑`	Highlight the previous command
`↓`	Highlight the next command
`Enter`	Run the highlighted command

`→`	Next step
`←`	Previous step
`Esc`	Skip the tour